mob

THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK: Tony Soprano’s origin story

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Michael Gandolfini and Alessandro Nivola in THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK

In the The Many Saints of Newark, David Chase’s prequel to The Sopranos, we get a peek inside the world that formed Tony Soprano. It’s pretty good.

Set when Tony Soprano was a high schooler, The Many Saints of Newark centers on Tony’s favorite “uncle”, mobster Dickie Moltisanti (and moltisanti is Italian for Many Saints). Dickie is played by Alessandro Nivola, who has had important, but supporting, roles in plenty of good movies (Junebug, Ginger & Rosa, American Hustle, A Most Violent Year, Selma). Here, he plays the story’s protagonist, charming and smarter than the average goon, and also capable of sudden, irrevocable violence.

Dickie and Tony are not really related, but, while Tony’s dad is incarcerated, his mob colleague Dickie is looking after his family. When we meet Tony’s sulking brute of a dad (Jon Bernthal) and his nightmare of a mom (Vera Farmiga), it’s clear why Dickie is young Tony’s role model.

Michael Gandolfini, James Gandolfini’s son, plays the young Tony. Beyond the resemblance to James Gandolfini’s adult Tony, the kid can act. He’s good, but the lead is Nivola.

Ray Liotta plays Dickie Moltisanti’s dad, Hollywood Dick Moltisanti. I don’t personally KNOW Ray Liotta, so I will refrain from saying that he can play mobsters effortlessly or that’s he’s a natural. Let’s just say that Liotta makes his mobster performances LOOK effortless. Here, his Hollywood Dick, returning home from an Italian holiday with a trophy bride, is filled with gusto. There’s also a bonus Liotta performance as a related, but much different, second character.

There’s enough in The Many Saints of Newark to show us how Silvio Dante, Big Pussy and Paulie Walnuts, all a few years older than Tony Soprano, would come to accept Tony as he crew leader. And there’s a big reveal about the extent of Uncle Junior’s (Corey Stoll) vindictiveness.

The Many Saints of Newark includes a depiction of the 1967 Newark riots, rising Black consciousness and the changing demographics of Newark and its suburbs,

Has there ever been better episodic television than The Sopranos? Breaking Bad and The Wire can stake their claims, but it’s clear that The Sopranos sets the standard.

The David Chase-crafted story of Dickie Moltisanti would allow The Many Saints of Newark to stand on its own as entertainment. For fans of The Sopranos, however, it’s even more insightful and evocative.

The Many Saints of Newark is in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.

a Sicilian Mafia double bill: THE TRAITOR and SHOOTING THE MAFIA

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Pierfrancesco Favino and Totò Riina in THE TRAITOR, Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Mafia movies have long been a cinematic staple and two current films explore the original Sicilian Mafia, the Cosa Nostra. The true life epic The Traitor and the documentary Shooting the Mafia cover the same territory – the Cosa Nostra‘s utter domination of Sicily until prosecuting judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellini convicted almost 400 mafiosi in the bizarre Maxi Trial in 1986-87, the Mafia War on the State and assassination of the judges, leading to public outrage and arrests which have somewhat tamed the Cosa Nostra. Both films even feature the real village of Corleone, the home village of the fictional Godfather.

Pierfrancesco Favino in THE TRAITOR, Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

The Traitor chronicles the career of Tommaso Buscetta, a mafia figure who traded in billions of dollars worth of heroin. Then, an internal gangland power grab led to the murders of his sons and to his arrest by very harsh Brazilian authorities. Buscetta retaliated by turning state’s evidence and testifying against his former Mafiosi, becoming the first and most important Sicilian Cosa Nostra informer.

The Traitor opens at a Mafia party where Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino) is sniffing out betrayal by his colleagues. It’s poker wisdom that, if you can’t spot the player who is :”the fish”, then it’s you. Or, as Victor Mature said in Gambling House, “You know what I think, Willie? I think I’m the fall guy.”

Written and directed by Marco Bellocchio, The Traitor is a two-and-a-half hour epic that spans decades and three continents. The highlight is the Maxi Trial, held in a super-secure fortified arnea, ringed by over 400 defendants caged around the top.

Pierfrancesco Favino is very, very good as Buscetta, a guy who is firmly devoted to his personal code. Luigi Lo Cascio from The Best of Youth also appears as a Buscetta friend.

Letizia Battaglia in SHOOTING THE MAFIA

The documentary Shooting the Mafia introduces us to Letizia Battaglia, a talented Palermo photographer, whose photojournalistic specialty became photographing murder victims – scores, perhaps hundreds of corpses, bullet-riddled and bomb-mangled, in pools of blood. Her work also documented the grief. trauma and outrage of the Sicilian population.

Battaglia is open and unapologetic about her lusty personal appetites – and she over-shares. She would be an interesting subject for a biodoc even if she photographed ears of corn.

A Letizia Battaglia photograph in SHOOTING THE MAFIA

Shooting the Mafia, an Irish and US production, is directed by Kim Longinotto.

The Traitor can be rented from all the major streaming services. Shooting the Mafia can be streamed on iTunes, YouTube and Google Play.